It's Raining Blood
by gavvy8
Summary: This story is going to be a Re-Write of Naruto where the world retains and keeps its allure towards being ninjas. There was an atmosphere around the Chunin exams that I really loved and I want to keep it relevant for all of this story. The main characters will be Naruto, Sasuke, and Akemi (my OC) Each chapter will follow one of them in the 3rd. None of them get special treatment.


**A/N) Let's see if we can do something interesting here. This story takes place at the beginning of the original Naruto series and features my OC as one of the protagonists. This fanfiction is experimental, but if it gets any semblance of traction, I'll carry it on.**

 **This isn't a fanfiction about playing favorites. This is just me taking the Narutoverse in a direction I wanted it to go rather than shippuden. Some characters will be balanced differently in terms of power, but for the most part, will remain the same in correlation to one another.**

 **Chapter 1:**

[Akemi]

The evening light streamed into Akemi's 2nd-story room that overlooked Konoha's river. She glanced out over the water, breaking away from her academy-work for maybe the first time since she had gotten home. It was finals week at the academy and her class was about to graduate and become genin the day after tomorrow. She was hard at work studying for the final written test, when a couple dark spots outside of her window attracted her attention. She glanced out again to see a couple boys in her class. The famed Uchiha, and the "Loser-boy" were walking along the sidewalk towards each other.

Akemi's curiosity won out against her homework and she leaned onto the windowsill, her silver hair falling around her exposed collar. Her black eyes scanned the two boys, amused with seeing the duality. Only weeks ago, Sasuke had completely humiliated Naruto in front of the entire academy, much to all of their delight. She wasn't really watching or joining in the Sasuke chant; she was far too busy buried in her book in prep for testing.

She did feel bad for Naruto, seeing him fail time after time without much success. She knew he was detached from everyone and no matter how many times she wanted to pick his brain for fun, her nerves and societal anxiety kept her away. She wasn't much of a socializer unless she had to be. Naruto seemed decently inviting when he would be loud and boastful to the whole class, but yet again, she opted to stay away. Now she was watching the two boys from a distance, wondering if they'd break into a fight or something.

Surprisingly, they just eyed each other and kept on their own way. Naruto was more expressive with his eye-rolling and arm-crossing. They both seemed to want to keep discretion and keep to themselves, which was interesting to Akemi, who usually saw them butting heads and personalities with loud, nearly physically-aggressive arguments. Naruto would always be punished of course, and Sasuke? Usually shrugged off Iruka and Naruto all together. Akemi technically wasn't allowed to think or talk about what happened to the Uchiha clan, but that wouldn't stop anyone. Curiosity killed the cat, and Akemi was a leopard with Sasuke emitting some mysterious scent. She wished she could know more… Perhaps there would be a time.

"Akemi? Can I come in?" She turned to hear a knock at her door.

"Yes papa, I was just working on some homework." She smiled as her father walked in in his home robes. Their clan's crest was over his heart, a red circle with projecting black clouds and a droplet of maroon emerging from their birth. She came from the Sanguine clan, a clan hailing from the land of the mist, but emigrated to Konohagakure after their region of the village became too dangerous to inhabit. Their initial move occurred before Akemi's birth, and her family became the only survivors through a deadly piracy attack on the ocean between the two continents. Her pregnant mother and father were allowed to leave but the rest of their family was whisked away into some human trafficking chain. Even more disappointingly, the family members that were taken were the only scribed members of the clan to have possession of their bloodline's Kekkei Genkai, "Blood Release 血遁."

"That's my girl, always honorary on her schoolwork… I do wish you'd come out to visit every now and then," he added with a chuckle. Before she could respond, he continued, "Maybe even go outside and play with the other kids.. Hell, I-"

"I'm fine, papa… What did you come in to say?" He didn't seem defeated or anything. He smiled and sat down on her bed, rubbing her knee.

"Of course you are. I came in to give you a gift from me and your mother… We thought it would be fitting now that you're becoming a big Kunoichi and all! Here… We know you will put it to good use. Treat it kindly, it's the only one we have left." He handed her a dark leathery book with their clan's crest on its surface.

Akemi stared down at the thick book blankly for a second, confused. Finely, her brain caught up to herself. Her eyes widened in excitement and she spun to face him, a smile threatening to burst open over her lips.

"You mean the blood-testing results-"

"Positive." He offered her another smile and she cried out in joy, nearly shrieking and hugged him tightly around his neck.

"Woah there!" He laughed and patted her back as she peeled away and immediately opened the book, the first few pages weathered with age. The were introductory pages filled with the words of her ancestors. The book itself was a textbook in style, written and created by the Sanguine's clans members detailing the use of their treasured Kekkei Genkai. Akemi's fathers large hand clasped the book shut and she looked up to him.

"Now. You need to be careful… I don't know personally, but I know for sure that the techniques and jutsu in this book are extremely high level. I trust you to have some integrity when you train. I don't want you to even think about using any of these yet until you get the supervision of your sensei as a Genin.. Do you understand me, Akemi?"

She could feel her father's gaze burning into her eyes and she began to feel nervous. She was definitely still afraid of her father. The man was an absolute brute for his age of 41, and although not a user of their Kekkei Genkai, he possessed a mean Water Release as all grown men of the hidden Mist did.

She gulped and nodded, legitimately meaning it (for the most part).

"Good girl," He smiled again and ruffled her hair. He leaned down and kissed her forehead.

"Good luck tomorrow, princess. I love you, now get some sleep, it's getting late and you have a big day tomorrow!" She smiled, already opening the book once more. It was as a lantern was to a moth. She couldn't help but want to consume the entire thing on the spot. Considering how fast of a reader she was, she may even get to finish the thing at the end of tomorrow night, granted that was all she focused on in her free time. She just had to knock out the written test, and the rest was a home-run!

"I love you too, Papa!... And thanks." He sauntered out of her room, leaving her to routinely get up and close the door after him. She grumbled about his annoying habit of never closing it after, but only subconsciously. She was already burning through the Author's Notes. It was about to be a long night…

 _ **The Academy Grounds, Friday: 7:46 PM**_

Akemi was standing around aimlessly with her fellow Genin buzzing around excitedly about their accomplishment. This was the time after graduation where everyone would come together and celebrate or socialize. Mothers would talk amongst themselves about other mothers and their juicy gossip while fathers would come together to measure the sizes of their accolades to one another and shit-talk about the Chunin exams; whose child would pummel the others. It was oddly reflective of Americans and their football.

Akemi's hair was fixed by her mother for the special occasion and made to flow down her back with her bangs straightened and framed to her face neatly. It's silver hue coincided masterfully with her White knee-length white dress, which had the image of sprouting red flowers at its lower hem. Some girls that showed up wearing things just as eloquette, but clearly jealous yet (Sakura and Ino to name a few) huddled together and spread their little slanders about Akemi as they always did. Their favorite was that she couldn't fight because she could never bring herself to put down a book.

Akemi was forced on this occasion to leave all her books around by her parents and try to socialize, but she was finding it difficult with all of the different cliques running around, of which she wasn't welcome to any. She was scanning for anyone… And beyond a group of parents, she noticed a hunched figure on the swing set, alone. They were shadowed by the tree and the evening's low-brightness, but his orange jumpsuit was indistinguishable. She made her way past the group of girls crowding Sasuke, who had only come to collect his headband and leave, but had trouble escaping the girl horde.

She wanted to talk to Sasuke sometimes, recognizing him for something more than his good looks, unlike the rest of the girls. She wanted to talk to him and befriend him just for the sake of being able to say she did with the antisocial felt as if she were definitely qualified for the task if its time should come. She would sometimes fantasize about reaching friendship with the Uchiha and unlocking his secrets as a measure of loyalty. Was that what a crush was? She figured Sasuke or Neji Hyuga were her main interests in that regard, but she wouldn't ever resort to what the other Kunoichi did and crowd him out like buzzards. She was determined to find a time where she could approach him for once without Sakura and Ino hovering around.

Focusing back on her main quest, she approached the lonely boy across the yard. Nobody paid her any mind as the sun was setting lower by the second. Naruto was looking down into the grass, his eyes projecting pain; no question that it was a result of not making Genin while everyone else did. She noticed he was still wearing his little green goggles, and not the blue headband that the rest of the Genin were distributed. He didn't acknowledge her approach and before long she was standing quietly in front of him, looking down over him silently, wondering what to say.

"It's okay… There's always next year." She offered him a small smile that was nearly sad in itself. He looked up at her, doubt written into his blue eyes and he sighed softly before reverting his attention to the ground.

"Hey Akemi," he voided her statement.

"You don't have to hang around me, your parents probably won't want you here anyways." She stood there holding her arms behind her back and swaying shyly in the Summer breeze. He was still looking at the ground, namely at her feet which were in peachy red sandals. He inspected her toenails which were also painted a peachy red. He was suddenly more interested in Akemi as a person. This was a new experience for him. No girls ever paid him any respect enough to approach him willingly like Akemi was then. He never really spared her any thought outside of academy exercises where they had to group up, but she never really approached him out of the blue like this. This confirmed his suspicion about her that maybe she wasn't like the others then, she was just interested in her books.

"They won't notice I'm here… I mean it, though. You can do it if you practice more-" She paused and then continued timidly, not knowing how he would react next, "if you stop pulling those pranks around the village, and seriously practice… That's how Sasuke-"

"Sasuke, huh? What's with all of you girls? Sasuke this, Sasuke that!" He had stood up and was looking into her eyes. Akemi blinked, her own eyes slightly becoming warm and she realized she was tearing up as a reaction to being yelled at. Suddenly, Naruto moved towards her, putting his hand on her shoulder, "I'm sorry, I took that too far… I just don't understand how he's so talented, and I'm so crappy!" Akemi reached up and grabbed his wrist before pulling it down between them. She reached down to her waist where her Hidden Leaf Headband was tied and placed it into his hand.

"You don't have to be… You can be better than Sasuke if you would only practice harder." Akemi smiled and Naruto looked down to his hand, clearly affected by the head band. It was true that he wanted one badly, if not more than any of the other Genin. He started to run his hand under it when Akemi whisked it away to which he looked up confused.

"-Or you can always be compared to Sasuke as the worst and him the best. Your choice." She smirked as he made a face at her.

"You're just evil, aren't you?" He squinted at her.

"No, I just read too many books." She giggled and he grinned at her with his eyes closed.

"How do you think I should practice then? I don't even know how!" He asked, scratching his head.

"You mean you didn't read the textbook we were assigned?"

"I couldn't afford it."

"Oh… Well maybe you can come over some time and read mine?" Her face was growing warmer for some reason as his eyes bore into hers.

"Do you mean you want to train together? Like a date?" He laughed as Akemi squirmed in place, her fists balling.

"No! You idiot, don't make me change my mind-"

"Nono, we can, I won't say that again!.. -Umm, when though?"

Akemi clicked her tongue idly before coming to a conclusion.

"How about tomorrow?" She asked with a small smile. She couldn't ever hide her emotions, but she did try.

"It's a date then!" Naruto began laughing as Akemi smacked him in the face to which he gave a comical "OW!"

The two were cut from their thoughts as Mizuki, the second mentor for the academy came over and gave a wide smile.

"Making friends now Naruto? Never would have thought with the bookworm here." There was a small moment following that indicated some sort of discomfort in Akemi. Did everyone think that about her, she thought to herself. Naruto looked up to Mizuki questioningly as if Mizuki had come to him before on similar endeavors.

"Can you excuse us, Akemi?" It was more of a statement though and Akemi was forced to nod with a small wave to Naruto who seemed hesitant to end their conversation. However, Akemi went to go find her parents anyways. She may have plenty of time to talk to Naruto tomorrow anyways, and get to know him a little better, and hopefully make some progress training. She finally spotted her parents mingling on the far side of the group, her dad doing a weird sharade of some sort that made her feel slightly embarrassed to actually approach them and have everyone know that he belonged to her. Call it a blessing, but a pink-headed and blonde girl approached Akemi from out of her peripherals, already having looks of disgust.

"I guess Sasuke left since you're here." She blinked at them, stating stoically. Ino scoffed, "You'd better watch it, Akemi. So what if we like Sasuke anyways, at least we won't be like you, marrying a Librarian!" The two snickered.

Sakura then added, "First you read books nonstop, and when you're not, you're hanging out with Naruto? Something IS wrong with you!" Ino stepped forward besides Sakura and they both cracked up in Akemi's face, trying to make her feel cornered. Akemi glared at Sakura. Her blood was beginning to boil the more she watched her act as if she was leagues better than Akemi. She was gritting her teeth behind her lips, realizing that these two were graduated and not Naruto. Sakura and Ino noticed this and made it a point to pick and poke fun at her even more.

"Neither of you deserve to be Genin. All you do is ogle at Sasuke and bully others who aren't as rich as you. You wouldn't know what a true ninja was if it hit you in the back of your big heads!" Ino narrowed her eyes even more, not used to getting so much resistance from Akemi.

"Are you kidding me, book-whore? I could beat your ass into a pulp and my dad would get me out of trouble for destroying you-" Ino turned to Sakura as she said it, waiting to see how Sakura react to her "dismantling" another bully target in "fear.". Her face was instead turned further away as Akemi's fist followed in and smacked Ino's square in the cheek. She stumbled back, her head knocked to the side. She grabbed her cheek with one hand, looking down to her feet momentarily. She and Sakura seemed shocked, and nobody noticed at first until Ino came charging at Akemi and tackled her to the ground. She grabbed ahold of Akemi's hair and went to tugging it. All the while, Akemi was throwing punches at Ino's face as a ring of Genin formed around the two, cheering and hooting and hollering at the fight.

"What the Hell?!- Ino Yamanaka what do you think you're doing!" Her father came through the crowd and snatched Ino up, pulling her off of Akemi, with Akemi's father also coming through and picking Akemi up off the ground. The two dads made brief eye-contact through the uproar, but either dad quickly gave the other a mutual look of confusion and parted from the crowd. Sakura and Ino were of course exaggerating what happened to Ino's dad while Akemi glared at the ground, her mom scolding her and her dad mentally hiding his excitement for the Chunin exams in a couple months. He always wanted to show up the Harunos and Yamanakas. He knew his daughter was definitely ready for this task.

Soon after the tiny scuffle, the Genin were dismissed to go home and all of the individual families with them. Akemi was grounded by her mom and had her book taken away for the time being. She was sent to her room and only let out to eat, which she tried to defend herself at the dinner table for the sake of being ungrounded to have that practice session with Naruto tomorrow.

"It doesn't matter what she said! You can't just go around punching anybody you feel like!" Her mother lectured near-shout in between bites of steak from across the table.

"Exactly as your mother said! And especially not a punch meant to stun; you want to knock her silly on the first one, there shouldn't be a se-"

"Tetsuo!"

"I mean, no! No punches, period!" He crossed his arms, frowning and looking away sheepishly from Akemi's mother.

Akemi finished her dinner and it was then 9:30. Her father told her to go to bed, but she rarely did often sleep when he wanted, and he never checked to see if she had actually gone to sleep. In this case, she shut her light off and sat at her desk, gazing outside at the moonlit river. There was a stretch of trees on the other side of the river that was given access to by a small wooden bridge. Her mind drifted to Naruto, wondering where he was currently; how he was doing. She wondered what Mizuki needed him for that they had to stop their conversation. Oh well.

She focused on a dark leaf in the distance out of the window, thinking to herself about what happened earlier further. She was cut off when she paid more attention to the leaf. Her black eyes shimmered in curiosity at the image of the leaf bouncing back and forward in the distance and then came to the realization that it wasn't a leaf at all! It was a person… They were wearing a bright color; Orange! She focused on it, looking closer and she then knew it was Naruto! But what was he doing at this time? And jumping around on the rooftops, headed towards the forest across the river. She made a quick choice that she would likely regret later, but she didn't care.

She hastily created a scarecrow out of her pillow and planted it under the covers to make it appear like she was asleep. She changed out of her dress into a grey tank-top and some black shorts that came up to her mid-thigh before deciding that was enough. She flicked on her night-light, tied her headband up around her forehead, opened her window and dropped to the street below. She jumped onto the roof using the simple academy techniques they had been using and started towards where she saw Naruto enter the forest.

When she reached the forest, she was suddenly aware that there may be no coming back. She was entering the dark forest at 10:00 at night without any idea what was going on other than she saw Naruto, of all people, running in there. She entered anyways and started to wander around in search of any signs of him.

As Akemi walked through the forest, her mind drifted again, as it always did. She was in thought about Sakura and Ino, and for that matter, much of the other academy kids and their view of her. She was regarded as the bookworm, but there was something else there that they never really addressed, as if they were always withholding some extra insult but were deterred by something at the last second. It was the same with Naruto. He was always the "idiot boy, dead last" but never anything more. They all knew though… That he was a "demon fox." The rule was to never share that with him or share it with one another. Some children did anyways, and entitled parents could be heard reprimanding or threatening when Naruto may have gotten too close to their child. Akemi felt as if there was a similar guise around herself. Maybe it wasn't as big of a deal, but it was there, and it was what always earned her stares and looks of fear from her classmates. Some of them, such as Ino or Sakura gave her looks of disgust.

Her father gave her "a talk" of sorts a long time ago about how their move wasn't going to be easy. The Leaf village wasn't exactly on good terms with the Mist village diplomatically, and what's more, the Leaf village was openly expressive of their disgust in the trials and tribulations that ninjas must undergo if they are to progress their ranks in the Mist village's ninja program. There was widespread news of murderous gangs, blood-soaked streets, and killing programs made to weed-out the weak.

As a result of all this news, Akemi's father warned Akemi to not take what the other academy-goers thought of her to stride, even though Akemi technically had never even stepped foot on Mist Village land. It was a stereotype that all Mist citizens were murderous monsters, or closeted psychopaths. The fact that Akemi never gave away much socially was especially a target for Sakura and Ino to bully her into this character that she wasn' all troubled Akemi to the point of getting her feelings hurt. It was a big comfort that Naruto didn't reject her, and every once in a blue moon when they didn't talk, Sasuke as well.

"I'll get them back.." She uttered to herself, stepping across a moonlit path.

She focused back on her primary task and did some basic tracking, finding it was actually almost as easy as the academy made it seem. She followed the trail of clues such as cleared out vegetation and broken limbs on trees. Eventually, she came upon the faint noise of clinking metal and voices yelling back to one another. She now knew that this scene didn't fit the narrative of only Naruto being here. She grew concerned for him and doubled her efforts of maneuvering through the thick brush. There was the sound of a large shuriken cutting the air, and she knew this sound thoroughly as one day a few weeks ago, a chunin demonstrator showed all of the academy kids a technique for wielding a large shuriken. Shortly after, there was a grown man's voice, grunting in pain. She approached the clearing quickly, and took in the scene, catching herself before she wandered right into their view.

There was Iruka Sensei! Battered, bruised, and poised over Naruto with a large shuriken protruding out of his back. Akemi's eyes widened in shock and fear at the image now ingrained into her mind. She pinched herself frantically, trying to do as the academy taught in order to recapture her loose mind. She then realized via the orange jumpsuit and yellow disheveled hair, the person under Iruka was Naruto. He was incapacitated in fear it looked like.. Akemi recalled that she often found Naruto hanging out with Iruka at Ichiraku's so she began to connect that this may be devastating for him. Far above, Mizuki cackled, the second chunin instructor besides Iruka. This came as another shock, but Akemi was ready for anymore twists. She stayed silent and watched, listening closely.

"I'm so sorry, Naruto… I just didn't want you to end up like me.. So alone and discarded, but I couldn't stop all of this.." Akemi could overhear Iruka, he seemed to be in tears.

Far above, Mizuki dropped down to the ground with a crooked smile. Akemi didn't expect there to be such a dark side to Mizuki. She still waited, wondering what she should do in a situation like this. Go to get help? She couldn't she was too far, and she couldn't find her way back! Stay and fight? Was she even strong enough to take on Mizuki? She wasn't even strong enough to overpower Shikamaru in an arm wrestle so how would that turn out? It was looking like her only option… But how?

"I need to do something now.." She thought aloud before creeping around the side of the clearing, getting closer to Mizuki. He was unsuspecting of her, and still glued to Naruto and Iruka. Iruka finally fell to the side from a lack of strength. He gave a broken sigh and Naruto didn't look ready to move or react yet, still lost in his own indecision.

"Run, Naruto-.." He passed out next to Naruto and Naruto scrambled to his feet, looking angrily to Mizuki who only offered a smile in return.

Mizuki unsheathed the second shuriken from his back. It was the large one seen in the academy demonstration, which made Akemi's heart start to race as she brain stormed for a plan. The thing was way too big to deflect at her level of strength and she didn't have any supplies with her (that her father still had yet to buy for her for becoming a Genin.) On top of this, Akemi didn't know many applicable ninjutsu to help either, although she was proficient in ninjutsu more than any other skill. There were always 'those' ninjutsu but she was afraid of the repercussions they would have on her as she was so inexperienced with them. Regardless, she began to form her hand signs for the one Jutsu her father pressed upon her to know.

" _You'll come across some jutsu in your time that you may like or not like, but NO daughter of mine will go without knowing the mist's water dragon." Her father chimed proudly in her mind. She sighed._

" _Of course, dad, just teach me the signs again… I think I forgot it around the Ox, Mokey again..."_

" _That's because you tune out, doofus. Look here,"-_

This was years ago, but she quickly appreciated her father's pressure to nail down this one jutsu. He had even made her practice it without any source of water, which was challenging at first, but eventually became something Akemi could work around. Like now, she could exhaust half of her chakra to conjure a medium-sized water dragon from thin air, or if she tried hard enough and used all of her chakra, she could go all out with an entire water dragon, which was a feat of its own but strongly advised against. She finished her signs as Mizuki threw his shuriken, committing herself to creating a medium sized water dragon. It would have to be sufficient enough.

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!" She shouted, dispelling any anonymity she had up to that point. A water Dragon spiraled into life in front of Naruto and surged forward. It battered the shuriken aside, making its momentum die off into the dirt helplessly. Naruto and Mizuki were both surprised, but Mizuki even more so as he took the brunt of the dragon into his chest. It smashed into him with a miniature explosion of water and he was thrown backwards into a tree. The water fell away to the earth and silence rang out.

Naruto looked over to Akemi with a somewhat excited expression, "WOAH! What was that, Akemi!" He started to jog towards her when Mizuki's voice cut through.

"Akemi? So there's two little rats now… No matter, I'll just have to deal with both of you this time!" He smiled at them, a tinge of annoyance in his tone and body language. Akemi deflated in place, feeling defeated that her attack didn't finish Mizuki off in one hit. She was expecting to completely knock him out, or anything… Was she really that weak that even a surprise Water Dragon direct hit couldn't hurt or phase her opponent. Mizuki turned to her, hunched in place against the tree. There was a dribble of blood on his lip and he seemed to be breathing somewhat hard. He definitely looked affected at least.

"That was pretty impressive for a little academy brat like you… But you won't get anymore free-be's, bookworm girl." He glared at her, his eyes boring into her. His tone leaked malice.

"I don't know what you just did, but you need to do more of it. This guy's too strong.." Naruto turned to her, the scroll resting against one of his hands like a walking stick. Akemi eyed the scroll momentarily, instantly interested. She decided to save her questions for later however as Mizuki was the most pressing threat. At this point, it was sink or swim for all three of them.

"I agree.. I just don't know how we're going to be able to.. That attack took half of my chakra.."

"I think I have a jutsu that can finish him if I can just get a second to channel my chakra. Can you protect me?" Naruto clenched his fist, glancing down at the scroll momentarily.

Akemi nodded, "I'll try!"

"What makes you think one Genin and a failure can even come close to defeating me?" Mizuki laughed uncontrollably, and looked condescendingly down at Akemi and Naruto. He had a smug expression, still chuckling to himself in disbelief.

"Little bookworm Akemi… Don't think I didn't hear about your little meltdown at the graduation ceremony. I thought you were smarter than this… Oh well," He chuckled, unsheathing two kunai and flipping them idly. "Let's at least see how far you've come along before I extinguish both of your pathetic lives."

With that said, he charged forward at them both. Naruto instantly began charging his chakra and Akemi dashed forward to meet Mizuki halfway. Mizuki leapt up and dealt her a kick to her face. She managed to block in time but was shoved to her back as Mizuki kicked off of her and into the air. He threw one of his kunai at Naruto and it landed in his thigh causing Naruto to cry out and sink to one knee. Mizuki was faster than they expected and dashed towards him to finish him off, slashing at him with his Kunai. Naruto pulled backwards again, falling to his back as his kunai slashed his forearms, sending blood all over the floor. He let out a cry of pain and surprise as Mizuki stood over him, prepared to stab him. Akemi came barrelling from behind him and knocked him into a tree with the heaviest shoulder she could manage.

"Why, you little-!" He grabbed Akemi's collar and yanked her into a punch, and kicked her back to the ground where she crumpled over with a yelp. Naruto's eyes bugged out in anger as he watched Akemi discarded. Mizuki raised his hand, signalling that he was about to stab downwards at Akemi's exposed neck. Naruto clasped a rock already by his hand and threw it into Mizuki's face from his downed position. He clutched his face and stumbled backwards as the rock broke apart on his face.

"You runts are so much trouble.. Just die!" He took his kunai and threw it at Naruto who was desperately trying to channel his chakra again. This kunai stabbed Naruto in the chest and he fell back instantly, coughing up blood.

"Uh-oh, that wasn't supposed to kill him," He had a sick smug on his face before cackling in front of Naruto's body.

"Blood Release: Pulse!" Akemi's voice caused them both to turn to her. Mizuki hadn't seen her get up but she was in a wide stance, going through hand signs that he had never seen before. Her hand was stretched towards Naruto, who suddenly felt the feeling of warmth returning to his finger-tips, and breath in his lungs. The blood inside him was churning and the blood on his outside was being returned to each wound it originated. His skin was healing at an alarming rate as all the blood he lost was replenished. Even the kunai that sank deep into him were shoved out of their own wounds as Naruto's bloodstream was given life; a pulse. Mizuki turned to him confused, but Naruto began to breathe again.

Through the silence, Akemi's eyes grew blurry and she slouched in her place.

"You continue to impress me… Too bad you're dead meat now!." Mizuki started towards her and she realized she was actually scared. She attempted to dodge him but he expected it this time, slashing down at her and cutting cheek below her eye. They reset footing and he slashed at her again nicking her shoulder. Her left eye clenched shut as blood seeped down the wound on her cheek. She telegraphed another slash and ducked it, but to no avail as the back of his fist knocked her backwards.

"Not a very strong puncher, are you?" He laughed as he grabbed her neck and she struggled in his grip. She was quite small compared to him, and he was easily overpowering her at this point. He slashed her chest open, and shoved her back, expecting her to take it and lay down. Surprisingly to him, she didn't fall flat on her back, she stumbled back and caught herself, even though she was exhausted of Chakra and blood.

Akemi was breathing hard at this point, grabbing her chest as Mizuki stared at her. Her vision grew blurry once more as she felt the blood leaving her system… It was all over the place. She had been cut all over the place and now her chest was open, pouring down her tank top, her lips dripping at the edge lightly. It wasn't a pretty sight, no, and she wasn't expecting herself to make it out of this anyways.

"Sorry, Papa…" She put her hands together, looking towards Mizuki who was concerned as to what her hand signs were again, as they weren't any traditional element. There was a water sign or two, but he knew he had to stop her before he found out the hard way what she was up to.

"Blood Release: Surge!" She outstretched her hand towards Mizuki who was running towards her, but wasn't close enough yet. The blood from all around the area suddenly rose into the air; a surprising amount of it, scoured from each nook and cranny of the small radius around them. It suddenly raced towards Mizuki's face like a concentrated firehose and battered his face senseless, splashing into his eyes, nose, and mouth. The blood that bounced off rejoined the stream and forced itself into his exposed orifices until Akemi couldn't channel it anymore due to complete chakra exhaustion. She fell to her knees, watching through cloudy lids as Mizuki coughed up some of the blood, wiping his face and grunting in discomfort as his face ached and he felt sick to his stomach all of the sudden.

She was almost completely out of chakra and already lost too much blood to function correctly. She wished she had just used that jutsu to begin with, but it was too late for that now. She fell onto her back, and looked up to the trees high above. She knew now, if there was any chance of her escaping, she could use those jutsu her father said she wouldn't be able to.

"I-... I'm going to-" Mizuki coughed up blood, "f-fucking… Ki-ill you.."

"Like hell I'll let you kill my friends! Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

She closed her eyes as orange flowers took their refuge in the trees high above. Hundreds of them! They all looked like Naruto… Strange. Akemi blacked out wondering why this was while Naruto annihilated Mizuki once and for all.

 **The Forest 11:42 PM**

"If it weren't for you two, I would be dead meat… I really do owe it to you Akemi and Naruto." Iruka eyed them both with a wide smile. His two pupils who matched up very differently than one another, but he knew that they had good hearts. He was leaned against a stump as nearby shinobi collected the busted and battered Mizuki onto a stretcher.

"Naruto, I think you deserve this... " Iruka removed his headband and offered it to Naruto but Naruto tackled him in a hug first and Akemi giggled, sitting on her knees beside them. She was feeling happy in that moment and couldn't help but smile. The three of them sat there together and laughed in a small triumph. This was the start of a new friendship, two budding talents, and an irreplaceable bond.

 **A/N) Oh God, I did the fight scene three different times! Ahh, I really hope y'all could follow it and y'all enjoyed the first chapter. Once again, I write off of motivation, and constructive/deconstructive words get me going! If you want more, just say so! Until next time!**


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